The 100-Point Dynasty: Père et Fils Venge

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Kirk Venge knew he was going to make wine like his Dad from the age of 4. Kirk’s father, Nils Venge, crafted the 1985 Groth Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the first American wine to earn 100 points from Robert Parker. The legendary pioneer of California viticulture brought his son Kirk along with him from an early age. Kirk rode shotgun on the tractor over the Oakville Estate vineyard, hauled hoses across the cellar floor, basket-pressed Cabernet from Nils’ Saddleback Vineyard, and worked late into the night on barrel racking, controlling the pump switch. Like Mozart’s father showing off his child prodigy, the elder Venge would impress friends by having Kirk identify grape varietals with a single sniff from the glass.

Kirk eventually studied viticulture at UC Davis and apprenticed with some of the best in the business. But he always valued his father’s guidance the most. Kirk guided the Yountville winery Beau Vigne in racking up 11 scores in Robert Parker’s rarified 96-98+ point range. And in 2013, Kirk matched his old man’s landmark accomplishment, pulling down a perfect 100-point score from Parker for his Beau Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

As Kirk’s renown grew — Food & WineMagazine named him one of the top 20 young winemakers in the world — he was wooed by a small operation, Jax Vineyards, in the northern part of the Calistoga AVA at the foot of St. Helena. Kirk leapt at the chance to work with Jax’s 1.9 tons of fruit per acre drawn off 12 acres of immaculately dry-farmed vines planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in alluvial soil.

Kirk knows the Calistoga appellation well; it’s where he broke ground for his own winery, Venge Vineyards, in 2010. It’s not hard to see why — Calistoga boasts a litany of superlatives that make winemakers giddy. It has the most extreme diurnal temperature shift in all of Napa Valley, often seeing temperature changes of upwards of 50 degrees between night and day, making for wines of incredible phenolic ripeness. It has the highest percentage of volcanic soil of any Napa Valley AVA, lending magnificent concentration. Its vineyards are the steepest in Napa and sit on the most geologically uniform bedrock. And the list goes on.

In 2014, these factors combined with picture-perfect weather to make for a series of blockbuster, high-scoring releases. A warm, dry winter and spring led to early bud break. Flowering went off without a hitch under ideal conditions. While the sun shined brightly during the summer months, temperatures remained mild, making for a large, uniform set of small-berry clusters.

Just as vines began to show the first signs of hydric stress in September, several well-timed showers refreshed the Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The call to harvest came early. Sugars were sky-high at harvest, the equivalent of 2012, while acids were firm and tannins nearly as sturdy as the fabulously age-worthy 2013s.

Napa Valley’s “exceptional” 2014 vintage earned praise from Antonio Galloni. It left James Suckling searching for adjectives like “extremely attractive” and “bright and sophisticated.” Suckling pointed out that on the whole, the 2014s were more expressive of terroir and microclimate rather than previous years. Kirk Venge’s 2014 Jax Cab is as eloquent a distillation of the wildly sumptuous Calistoga AVA as you’ll find anywhere.

Deep purple to the rim, with blue and black berried fruit, cherry liquer, and lilacs. Very rich on the attack, mouth-coating, with a ripe-fruited core of boisenberry, blackberry and black currant, buttressed by fine-grained, sweet tannin and lively acidity. Difficult not to drink now, but for those who enjoy a little age on their Napa Cabs, you’ll be rewarded to cellar for the next decade and a half, as Parker suggests.

Kirk’s absolutely stunning Cab off these valley floor vines earned a glowing 93-point review from Parker. “This is super and a great value,” Parker wrote, and we won’t argue. He calls it an “intriguing Napa value” and that’s an understatement.

As sumptuous, rich, and densely concentrated as Napa Valley reds get, thanks to a gorgeous 2014 vintage, the astonishing natural advantages of the Calistoga AVA, and the long and rigorous education of Kirk Venge. $44.99 from WineAccess today. A magical release, not to be missed. Shipping included on 4.

Customer Ratings

Based on 43 ratings

B. C.

Mar 25, 2017

Wonderful!

F. P.

Apr 01, 2017

Wine was full bodied with great finish, dark fruit with that dust lingering on your palate

M. M.

May 20, 2017

Love it

About Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon Facts

Flavor Profile

Full, tannic wines with notes of blackcurrant and cassis

About Cabernet Sauvignon

Overview of Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon has been the flagship red grape of the California wine industry for decades, and its popularity shows no sign of abating. Napa Valley is the heart of Cabernet Sauvignon production and is clearly an ideal region for creating world-class wines. If any Cabernet-based wine is capable of giving Bordeaux a run for its money, it's Napa Valley's examples. However, due to the extremely high cost of purchasing and developing vineyards in California, and the cachet of Napa Valley on the label, this has largely become a category for the well-heeled wine lover.

Taste Profile of Cabernet Sauvignon

At their best, Napa Valley's Cabernets are characterized by fruit notes of cassis, black cherry, and licorice and sweet oak notes of chocolate, mocha, cedar, and tar. Today, most of the best wines are aged entirely or almost completely in French oak barrels, which tend to produce somewhat more refined wines than do most American barrels. (These latter barrels often introduce exotic and pungent suggestions of scotch, bourbon, tar, coconut, and dill.) But the use of expensive French oak is no guarantee of a good bottle: too many wines today, due to high crop levels or insufficiently ripe fruit, do not have the stuffing to support their oakiness and can quickly be dominated or even dried out by their wood component. The best California Cabernets mellow and soften with five to ten years of bottle aging, developing more complex and less fruit-dominated notes of tobacco, leather, and earth, with mellower wood tones. Compared to the top Bordeaux, however, many California Cabernet Sauvignons merely endure in bottle rather than truly become more interesting. There are no shortage of quality producers, even if these wines are rarely values. And it remains to be seen if today's outsized showstoppers, made from superripe grapes and undeniably impressive on release, will reward extended bottle aging or will turn out to have been best suited for drinking in their youth.

Cabernet Sauvignon Blends

Many wines labeled Cabernet Sauvignon contain small percentages of other so-called Bordeaux varieties -- chiefly Merlot and Cabernet Franc but also Petit Verdot and even Malbec (varietally labeled wines in California must contain at least 75% of the variety named).

Top Regions Where Cabernet Sauvignon is Produced

Cabernet Sauvignon also flourishes in Washington State, Australia and even Chile. In Washington, prices have been creeping up at the high end, with some producers aiming to compete with cult wines from the Napa Valley. Consider Chateau Ste. Michelle and Woodward Canyon. In Australia, look to the Coonawarra and Margaret River regions. Chile can reveal excellent bargains to those who know where to look: Montes makes a strong range of quality bottlings, as does Casa Lapostolle.

Cabernet Sauvignon Food Pairings

As Cabernet Sauvignon is bold and assertive on the palate, it pairs best with foods like grilled red meats. Taken together, the proteins and fats in the food neutralize some of the stronger tannic qualities of the wine, leading to a harmonic combination that enhances both partners.